Sunday Worship Service January 12, 2025
Prelude
Call to Worship Exodus 20:3
Hymn JBC # 59 Great is Thy faithfulness
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 261 Dear Spirit, lead me to the Saviour’s side
Offering
Scripture Philippians 1:12～21
Prayer
Sermon “To live is Christ”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 491 Have faith in God
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction
Postlude
Paul encountered the resurrected Christ, and Paul was changed from someone who severely persecuted Christians to someone who passionately preached the Gospel of Christ.
In last week’s message, we read together about Paul’s conversion in the book of Acts.
However because Paul became a missionary for Christ, his life from then on became one of suffering
He was imprisoned many times for preaching Christ, and (although it is not written clearly in the Bible) it can be assumed that in the end, Paul was likely executed.
Even this letter to the believers in Philippi is believed to have been written from Paul’s prison cell while he was imprisoned in Rome.
However, even though Paul was in prison, he never lost his hope and strength.
In Philippians Chapter 1 verses 3~4, just before today’s passage, it says the following:
I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy
What kept Paul going in prison was above all else his faith, the belief that Jesus Christ, the resurrected Jesus Christ, was always with him.
Also, we see what a great source of joy prayer was to Paul. The joy of being able to pray for everything, especially for his friends in the faith, helped sustain Paul.
For Paul, thinking about the believers in Philippi and thanking God for them while praying was a source of joy.
The church in Philippi was established through Paul’s missionary work. It seems that the believers in the Philippian church were still supporting Paul both physically and spiritually even after he had left Philippi.
Philippians chapter 4 verses 15~16 says this:
Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only; for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid more than once when I was in need.
Other letters written by Paul tell us that he was a tentmaker by trade, and that he worked to support himself as he preached.
However, the passage we just read tells us that Paul accepted physical support (goods and perhaps money also) from the believers in the Philippian church.
Because of this, we can assume that there was a special trust and warmth in the relationship between Paul and the believers of the Philippian church. (from the fact that Paul did not receive aid from other churches, but he did from the Philippian church)
And for Paul, it was the greatest joy for him to be able to think of the believers in Philippi supporting him and to pray for them.
Being able to pray for our friends or family in the faith brings great joy to those who believe in God.
We also think about and pray for other people, perhaps our family, especially our church brothers and sisters, friends and acquaintances.
I hope that we know that just like Paul thought of and prayed for the believers in Philippi with joy, we too can pray in faith for others and that this in itself brings great joy.
Why does praying bring us joy? This is because God who hears our prayers is certainly with us.
When we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, God is surely listening to our prayers because of the name of Christ.
I hope that we believe in this promise from the Bible, and that we are believers who pray with joy.
Let’s look at verse 12 from today’s passage.
12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.
“What has happened to me” is talking about the Paul experiences of severe hardship and persecution due to preaching the gospel of Christ, even to the point of being put in prison.
If we think about it, even though he was working for God and to tell people of God’s salvation, being arrested and put in prison for this is tough.
When Paul was arrested, he might have first thought that he would no longer be able to preach the gospel of Christ.
But then Paul was able to see what happened to him since then not from his own point of view, but from the point of view of God and of spreading the Gospel of Christ.
Even though he was put in prison, Paul says that being put in that kind of situation actually served to advance the gospel.
Acts chapter 16 describes the time when Paul was imprisoned in Philippi.
Accusations arose from people that Paul and his friend Silas, who were preaching in Philippi, were “stirring up confusion in the city". Because of this, both of them were whipped again and again, and then were thrown in prison.
Around midnight, Paul and Silas were singing songs of praise and praying. Then suddenly a big earthquake occurred, shaking even the foundations of the prison, and all the doors keeping the prisoners in their cells opened and their chains came loose.
Then the jailer who was guarding the prison feared that the prisoners had escaped and his duty would be called into question, and was about to commit suicide (Acts Chapter 16 Verse 27).
But Paul shouted out “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” (Acts 16:28)
The jailer asked Paul and Silas “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved – you and your household.”
It is written that the jailer and his family were baptized, that they came to be believers in God, and that he and his whole household were filled with joy.
Paul experienced that even his (Paul's) unreasonable (unjust) experience of imprisonment could be greatly used by the Lord God in such a way, leading to the Gospel being shared.
Rather than thinking of himself, Paul had his eyes fixed on advancing the gospel, and he was able to look back on what had happened to him from the point of view of how the gospel would keep spreading.
This shows us the necessity of being able to see what happens to us not through the lens of our own thoughts and hopes, of our own feelings and contentment (although these are also important, and we can’t do away with our own feelings and hopes), but from the point of view of advancing the gospel of Christ.
Christ is with us, and works through what happens to us to advance the Gospel.
As we hold on to that belief and are made alive in the gospel, I hope that we also live for the advancement of the Gospel.
In verse 15 onwards in today’s passage, it talks about the different motivations people have for proclaiming Christ.
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.
And in verses 16~17, it says that there are those who preach Christ who are motivated by love for Paul, but also others who are motivated by causing Paul suffering.
In verse 18, it says:
18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,
What an amazing thing to say. Wouldn’t it be true to say that we think that motivations are important when preaching the loving Christ?
Don’t we think that having the pure intention of simply wanting to share about Christ is important, and that if there is any envy or conflict involved, that would not be preaching the gospel?
What Paul means to say here is that even when we as humans have impure motivations, the Gospel of Christ is stronger still than the impure motivations and hearts of man and transcends them.
Even Christians, and also Christian churches, are made up of sinful people, and is a gathering of sinners, so unfortunately even amongst ourselves there is envy and conflict.
Even so, the Gospel of Christ covers even us with our sinful natures.
More to the point, when we who cause envy and conflict repent of our selfish and sinful human natures and submit these things honestly to God, isn’t the Gospel also spread through us in this way?
While we hope for the grace of Christ to work in us sinners and make us more like Him, let us also hope that through our sinful selves, Christ (and only Christ) is spread amongst us and glorified.
Let us look at the last verse of today’s passage, verse 21.
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
For Paul, to live was Christ. As an evangelist, Paul went through many difficult experiences, and must have suffered in a great many ways.
Since Paul was just a man, it seems he had many failings and a had a fairly volatile character, and the Bible tells us of cases where Paul had disagreements and clashes even within the church.
But, for Paul, when it came to knowing that “to live is Christ”, Paul did not have any hesitations.
Paul would have been thinking “I have life because Christ lives”, “Because Christ lives, I am also alive today”, “Because I am called to preach Christ, I have been permitted to live this day.”
For us, the Lord Jesus Christ being alive is not a vague concept with no concrete reality, is not a mere thought, wish or ideal.
It is the reality that the One who died on the cross for us and rose again now continues to give us the hope of living in God’s power through the Holy Spirit.
In this way, Christ is indeed alive. Since Christ is alive in us, we can also say “to live is Christ” for us.
If we are ever in doubt questioning “What am I living for?” or “Is there any meaning in my life?”, in these times let us raise our eyes to Christ.
Let us continue listening to the words of Christ as told through the Word in the Bible, and let us rejoice in knowing the truth that we are alive in Christ.
For us, to live is Christ, that is because Christ lives, we also live.
Because our imperfect, limited, sinful selves are redeemed by the perfect, sinless Jesus Christ, forgiven of our sins and freed from sin, we can live in a life of joy.
Let us hold on to this promise from the Bible and go forth living with the Lord and living every day for the sake of Christ.
Saturday, January 4, 2025
Sunday Worship Service January 5, 2025
Prelude
Call to Worship 2 Chronicles 7:14
Hymn JBC # 2 Come, Thou almighty King
Prelude
Call to Worship 2 Chronicles 7:14
Hymn JBC # 2 Come, Thou almighty King
The Prayer Time
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 261 Dear Spirit, lead me to the Saviour's side
Offering
Scripture Acts 9:1～9
Prayer
Sermon “Paul’s Conversion”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 19 Love divine, all loves excelling
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction
Postlude
The New Testament consists of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the Book of Acts (today's Bible passage), several subsequent books in epistle (letter) form, and the book of John's Revelation.
It was Paul who wrote most of the epistles in the New Testament. That Paul is called Saul in today's passage. Paul and Saul are the same person.
At the beginning of today's passage we read
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
The “Lord's disciples” are followers of Jesus Christ. At this time, Jesus had already been killed, resurrected, and ascended into heaven.
After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Lord's Holy Spirit descended on and empowered His disciples.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the disciples began to preach with great power that “Jesus Christ is Lord” and that “there is no salvation for man except through Christ.”
The Book of Acts describes in detail the evangelistic works of the disciples after being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Paul, who later preached Christ and wrote many of the epistles included in the New Testament, was at first a fierce persecutor of those who followed the teachings of Jesus Christ.
He threatened and even sought to kill the Lord's disciples.
Paul had received permission from the high priest to persecute Christ's followers and was on his way to Damascus with palpable evil intent.
There he was to bind up Christ's followers, both men and women, and take them to Jerusalem.
We know how intense Paul's persecution was during this period because there are several passages in the epistles where he himself alludes to the fact.
In Galatians 1:13, we read
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
Paul had persecuted God's church and even tried to destroy it. And through it all, Paul believed he was serving God diligently.
This is evident in the same passage in Galatians, the next verse, 1:14.
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
Paul says that he was “extremely zealous.”
However, if we look deeper into the meaning of the words, “advancing in Judaism,” and “extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers,” can we not infer that Paul was more concerned with his own zeal than with his love and sincerity toward the Lord God?
We can infer that Paul was not living in the love and mercy of God and the joy that comes from Him, even though he appeared to be a fervent believer on the outside.
And I think it is possible that Paul was actually suffering internally from this.
As Paul approached his destination, Damascus, with the intent to persecute Christ's followers, a light from heaven flashed around him.
Paul fell to the ground and then heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
It was the voice of Jesus Christ.
The voice said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Jesus did not say, “Stop persecuting me,” but rather asked him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
It was an exhortation to Paul to look within himself.
Jesus asked Saul,
“Why do you persecute me? What is your motivation for doing so? What drives you? “
Thus, through encountering Jesus, we are forced to look within ourselves.
Even today, we continue to encounter Jesus through the Bible, Jesus continues to question us, and we continue to look within ourselves.
As Jesus questions us, as we spiritually communicate with Him (through prayer), we are forced to really consider “What do I really want? Who am I really?”
We do not know what was going through Paul’s mind at this moment. After this Paul is blinded.
Later in today's passage, we are told that Paul's eyes were reopened by a man named Ananias, and that Paul then transformed into a zealous preacher of Jesus.
We might get the impression that Paul was instantly transformed from a persecutor of Christ to a passionate evangelist of Christ.
However, I believe that such a change actually occurred gradually within Paul as he persecuted Christ's followers.
Despite his persecution of Christ’s followers, having seen those who followed Christ and lived in His ways, the realization that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is the true God Himself began to emerge within Paul.
Paul had never met Jesus when He was alive. However, by observing the lives of Christ's followers, we can say that Paul had met Jesus.
In the Book of Acts, chapter 7, which precedes today's passage, we read about the story of a man named Stephen being martyred (being killed for preaching Christ).
No matter how much people opposed and hated Stephen for preaching Christ, he did not hate them back.
The people were so angry with Stephen that they threw stone after stone at him and killed him.
Then Stephen said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60)
Paul was also present there. It is written that Paul approved of the killing of Stephen. (Acts 8:1).
The Bible does not tell us how Paul felt as he watched Stephen's execution.
However, Paul's heart must have been violently shaken by witnessing Stephen praying “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” about those who were stoning him to death.
In addition to Stephen, Paul must have felt something from the other believers whom he had persecuted, and change had begun inside him without him noticing.
When Jesus asked Paul, “Why do you persecute me?”, I think Paul was reminded of Stephen's death, his own approval of Stephen's execution, and was forced to rethink many things.
Paul was more zealous about the teachings and practices of Judaism than anyone. But I think Paul realized that he did not truly know about the essence of God, His love and His forgiveness.
Paul asks the voice, “Who are you, Lord?”
Paul would have known that it was in fact Jesus. I believe that Paul was asking the essential question, “Who are you, God, in relation to my life?”
When we hear the Lord speak to us, we too may ask, “Who are you?” and “How are you involved in my life right now?”
We do not usually have such dramatic experiences as Paul's, where a light shines from heaven and we hear a voice.
But there are times when God speaks to us through the Bible and even through other people and various circumstances.
It is then that we ask, “Who are you?” and “What should I do?” with the intent of following the path revealed to us, one step at a time.
Paul is blinded after this encounter and his compatriots took him by the hand and led him to Damascus.
He was blind for three days and did not eat or drink anything.
Today's passage is very important in the sense that Paul was reborn as a preacher of Christ and preacher to the Gentiles (foreigners), extending the gospel beyond the Jews.
Paul had since gone on to do great things as a preacher of Christ.
But the fact that Paul had earlier persecuted (even killed) followers of Christ would remain with him.
But such was God's plan. God does not always use those deemed worthy and qualified in the eyes of men for the work of evangelism.
Instead, God chose someone like Paul, whose past (a major obstacle) appeared to make him an unlikely candidate as an evangelist of Christ.
When Paul tried to preach the gospel, I think he was rebuffed (feared) by many people who said, “Did you not terribly persecute Christ’s followers?”
Paul was faced with such voices and his own past and sins as he became convinced of God's love and forgiveness.
In other words, despite his past as a persecutor of Christ, Paul was chosen by God and, overflowing with the joy of forgiveness, became an apostle of Christ.
And Paul grew increasingly convinced that he had been called to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as part of God's grand design, far exceeding his own understanding.
We, too, have to confront ourselves when we encounter Christ and when we are challenged by His words.
This may lead us to confront our inner self and sins, which is something we would normally prefer not to do.
But only through such a process do we finally come to the conviction and joy that Jesus really died on the cross to atone for our sins, and that we are therefore forgiven of our sins.
Let us be grounded in the faith given to us by Jesus and continue to walk together on the path of Christ, with joy and gratitude for the forgiveness of our sins, while also turning inward to examine ourselves.
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 261 Dear Spirit, lead me to the Saviour's side
Offering
Scripture Acts 9:1～9
Prayer
Sermon “Paul’s Conversion”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 19 Love divine, all loves excelling
Doxology JBC # 671
Benediction
Postlude
The New Testament consists of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), the Book of Acts (today's Bible passage), several subsequent books in epistle (letter) form, and the book of John's Revelation.
It was Paul who wrote most of the epistles in the New Testament. That Paul is called Saul in today's passage. Paul and Saul are the same person.
At the beginning of today's passage we read
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
The “Lord's disciples” are followers of Jesus Christ. At this time, Jesus had already been killed, resurrected, and ascended into heaven.
After Jesus ascended into heaven, the Lord's Holy Spirit descended on and empowered His disciples.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the disciples began to preach with great power that “Jesus Christ is Lord” and that “there is no salvation for man except through Christ.”
The Book of Acts describes in detail the evangelistic works of the disciples after being empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Paul, who later preached Christ and wrote many of the epistles included in the New Testament, was at first a fierce persecutor of those who followed the teachings of Jesus Christ.
He threatened and even sought to kill the Lord's disciples.
Paul had received permission from the high priest to persecute Christ's followers and was on his way to Damascus with palpable evil intent.
There he was to bind up Christ's followers, both men and women, and take them to Jerusalem.
We know how intense Paul's persecution was during this period because there are several passages in the epistles where he himself alludes to the fact.
In Galatians 1:13, we read
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
Paul had persecuted God's church and even tried to destroy it. And through it all, Paul believed he was serving God diligently.
This is evident in the same passage in Galatians, the next verse, 1:14.
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
Paul says that he was “extremely zealous.”
However, if we look deeper into the meaning of the words, “advancing in Judaism,” and “extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers,” can we not infer that Paul was more concerned with his own zeal than with his love and sincerity toward the Lord God?
We can infer that Paul was not living in the love and mercy of God and the joy that comes from Him, even though he appeared to be a fervent believer on the outside.
And I think it is possible that Paul was actually suffering internally from this.
As Paul approached his destination, Damascus, with the intent to persecute Christ's followers, a light from heaven flashed around him.
Paul fell to the ground and then heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
It was the voice of Jesus Christ.
The voice said, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
Jesus did not say, “Stop persecuting me,” but rather asked him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
It was an exhortation to Paul to look within himself.
Jesus asked Saul,
“Why do you persecute me? What is your motivation for doing so? What drives you? “
Thus, through encountering Jesus, we are forced to look within ourselves.
Even today, we continue to encounter Jesus through the Bible, Jesus continues to question us, and we continue to look within ourselves.
As Jesus questions us, as we spiritually communicate with Him (through prayer), we are forced to really consider “What do I really want? Who am I really?”
We do not know what was going through Paul’s mind at this moment. After this Paul is blinded.
Later in today's passage, we are told that Paul's eyes were reopened by a man named Ananias, and that Paul then transformed into a zealous preacher of Jesus.
We might get the impression that Paul was instantly transformed from a persecutor of Christ to a passionate evangelist of Christ.
However, I believe that such a change actually occurred gradually within Paul as he persecuted Christ's followers.
Despite his persecution of Christ’s followers, having seen those who followed Christ and lived in His ways, the realization that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is the true God Himself began to emerge within Paul.
Paul had never met Jesus when He was alive. However, by observing the lives of Christ's followers, we can say that Paul had met Jesus.
In the Book of Acts, chapter 7, which precedes today's passage, we read about the story of a man named Stephen being martyred (being killed for preaching Christ).
No matter how much people opposed and hated Stephen for preaching Christ, he did not hate them back.
The people were so angry with Stephen that they threw stone after stone at him and killed him.
Then Stephen said, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60)
Paul was also present there. It is written that Paul approved of the killing of Stephen. (Acts 8:1).
The Bible does not tell us how Paul felt as he watched Stephen's execution.
However, Paul's heart must have been violently shaken by witnessing Stephen praying “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” about those who were stoning him to death.
In addition to Stephen, Paul must have felt something from the other believers whom he had persecuted, and change had begun inside him without him noticing.
When Jesus asked Paul, “Why do you persecute me?”, I think Paul was reminded of Stephen's death, his own approval of Stephen's execution, and was forced to rethink many things.
Paul was more zealous about the teachings and practices of Judaism than anyone. But I think Paul realized that he did not truly know about the essence of God, His love and His forgiveness.
Paul asks the voice, “Who are you, Lord?”
Paul would have known that it was in fact Jesus. I believe that Paul was asking the essential question, “Who are you, God, in relation to my life?”
When we hear the Lord speak to us, we too may ask, “Who are you?” and “How are you involved in my life right now?”
We do not usually have such dramatic experiences as Paul's, where a light shines from heaven and we hear a voice.
But there are times when God speaks to us through the Bible and even through other people and various circumstances.
It is then that we ask, “Who are you?” and “What should I do?” with the intent of following the path revealed to us, one step at a time.
Paul is blinded after this encounter and his compatriots took him by the hand and led him to Damascus.
He was blind for three days and did not eat or drink anything.
Today's passage is very important in the sense that Paul was reborn as a preacher of Christ and preacher to the Gentiles (foreigners), extending the gospel beyond the Jews.
Paul had since gone on to do great things as a preacher of Christ.
But the fact that Paul had earlier persecuted (even killed) followers of Christ would remain with him.
But such was God's plan. God does not always use those deemed worthy and qualified in the eyes of men for the work of evangelism.
Instead, God chose someone like Paul, whose past (a major obstacle) appeared to make him an unlikely candidate as an evangelist of Christ.
When Paul tried to preach the gospel, I think he was rebuffed (feared) by many people who said, “Did you not terribly persecute Christ’s followers?”
Paul was faced with such voices and his own past and sins as he became convinced of God's love and forgiveness.
In other words, despite his past as a persecutor of Christ, Paul was chosen by God and, overflowing with the joy of forgiveness, became an apostle of Christ.
And Paul grew increasingly convinced that he had been called to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as part of God's grand design, far exceeding his own understanding.
We, too, have to confront ourselves when we encounter Christ and when we are challenged by His words.
This may lead us to confront our inner self and sins, which is something we would normally prefer not to do.
But only through such a process do we finally come to the conviction and joy that Jesus really died on the cross to atone for our sins, and that we are therefore forgiven of our sins.
Let us be grounded in the faith given to us by Jesus and continue to walk together on the path of Christ, with joy and gratitude for the forgiveness of our sins, while also turning inward to examine ourselves.
Saturday, December 28, 2024
Sunday Worship Service December 29, 2024
Prelude
Call to Worship Isaiah 32:15
Hymn JBC # 120
The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Supper
Hymn JBC # 301
Offering
Scripture Acts 1:6～11
Prayer
Sermon “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 81
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude
Today we are having the last Sunday (the Lord’s Day) Worship service of the year 2024. We would like to give thanks to the Lord God for continuing to speak to us through His Word, for continuing to support us, and for continuing to guide us in this year 2024 too.
Starting in April of this year, I (we) are undertaking a bold (and c?) attempt to cover the entire Bible from the beginning of the Old Testament to the end of the New Testament in one year's worship message.
By covering the Bible from beginning to end, even in broad strokes, we can see that the Lord God has great thoughts and plans that are beyond our human thoughts and plans.
The heart of the Bible is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Bible tells us that Christ became a man, was born into this world, and died on the cross for the atonement of our sins.
And with Jesus' resurrection on the third day, God's thoughts and plans, and above all, God's love, were clearly revealed to us.
Each of us has our own wishes, thoughts, and various ideas and make plans of our own.
But the Bible shows us that believing in Christ the Lord God of the cross and resurrection and walking in obedience to Christ’s guidance is the path we should choose.
This year (2024), our church is walking on the annual theme “Standing on the Word of the Lord”.
It will soon be a new year (2025) and it is our hope that we will continue to stand on the Word of the Lord and continue to be spiritually nourished by His Word in the new year too.
For the worship message schedule, we have reached up to the end of New Testament Gospels at last week’s Christmas worship service.
In the New Testament, there are four books known as the “Gospels” (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that describe the time from the birth of Jesus Christ to his death on the cross and resurrection.
And after those four Gospels, “the Acts of the Apostles” follows, in which Jesus' disciples (also known as apostles) carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to various places after Jesus Christ's resurrection and ascension to heaven.
Today's Bible verse is from Acts Chapter 1.
In the verse immediately preceding the passage you just read from verse 6, in Acts 1:3, we read the following.
After his suffering, he (*Jesus) presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Jesus suffered (died on the cross) and then resurrected to show the apostles with numerous evidences that “He is alive”.
Jesus rose from the dead and appeared before the apostles with a resurrected body so that the apostles could actually see and even touch him.
Jesus' resurrection was not a dream or a hallucination, but an event that was clearly demonstrated to people’s eyes on earth by God.
Jesus' disciples were very surprised to meet the resurrected Jesus, and some of them doubted though, but they saw that their Lord had risen and received great power and hope again.
In today's passage, the apostles ask Jesus the following question.
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
The disciples, like the rest of other Israel's people, had always believed that their Savior would rebuild Israel and free them from the country’s oppression (the Roman Empire) that ruled over them.
But that hope of theirs was completely cut off, they thought, when Jesus was cruelly crucified and killed so they were in despair.
But then the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ appeared before them. They must have rejoiced to meet the resurrected Lord, and at the same time, rejoiced to know that their hope of “Israel's deliverance” was not yet over.
So they asked Jesus.
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Jesus responded like this. (verse 7)
It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
It means that the decisive time when their nation will be rebuilt and liberated is when God the Heavenly Father determines it by His divine authority (Not by man, it says.)
We, as believers, are required to follow the time God has set and wait for important day and timing.
We have many wishes and thoughts. Today is the last Sunday service of this year.
Looking back on this past year, each of you may have various feelings about whether what you had hoped for this year came true or not.
Some may say they are discouraged and disappointed that they did not get what they wished for.
But it is precisely in such times that we are taught, through the Word of Scripture, that we should know God's will, wait for His timing, and trust in His plan.
There is a divine plan that goes far beyond our thoughts and wishes. And God will fulfill that plan at the time He has ordained.
Therefore, let us resolve again today to seek God's will and walk according to it, believing that there is a time and a season that God the Father in heaven has appointed by His own authority.
The nation of Israel will be rebuilt, which means that, faith-wise, the faith of each of us today as believers will be rebuilt, and we will be given the joy of deliverance from sin.
It is written in today's passage that it is accompanied by one sign.
That's what it says in verse 8, and I'm going to read verse 8.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
What kind of power is given by the descent of the Holy Spirit?
Paul, who wrote the Letter to the Ephesians, prayed in that letter as follows
Ephesians 3:16～17
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
It says here that when the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, falls, our inner being is strengthened.
To be strengthened in our inner being means that Jesus Christ lives in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
And Christ's dwelling in us means that we become rooted in His love and become to stand firm in His love (built up by His love).
So the giving of the Holy Spirit to us could be measured by the conviction that Christ lives in my heart.
It is also the work of the Holy Spirit, that makes us convinced that Christ is in our hearts and how precious and loved are we by Christ.
And it is through our being filled with the love of Christ and facing others and this society with that love, that the Kingdom of God will be extended to this world.
The Lord, the God of the Bible, first chose the Israelites and showed them His work of salvation. Eventually, the Israelites came to believe that God's salvation was available only to them.
But when the Holy Spirit falls on the apostles, they are filled with the love of Christ, and they become His witnesses, not only in Jerusalem, but throughout all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth, as we are told in today's passage.
Beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem and Judea, the forgiveness of sins and the Lord's love, clearly demonstrated by His cross and resurrection, will be conveyed to all nations and regions and all peoples, even to the ends of the earth.
And the driving force for the gospel to be preached in such a way is not the force of arms that one nation usually use to dominate other nations or any power such forcefully holds them down.
The Bible tells us that it is the love of Jesus Christ given by the Holy Spirit.
When Christ's love truly fills us and we live and act on that love of Christ, we will truly be able to understand others and Christ’s love will spread through us.
And when there is understanding and compassion between one another based on the love of Christ, rather than through forceful methods of forcing the other to give in to one's demands, then anything new or changes that comes from it, and that event, will be truly powerful one.
In today's passage, Jesus ascends from the presence of his disciples into heaven with the promise, “In time I will return.”
Now in our eyes, Jesus is invisible, but He lives in us by His Holy Spirit, as He promised, and fills us with His love.
I believe that each of us and our churches have experienced various failures and setbacks this past year. On the other hand, I believe that there were also accomplishments and many joys and blessings.
Let us have the confidence given us by the Holy Spirit. The Lord's great plan will be fulfilled at the time and in the season that He has appointed. Let us believe that we are alive in such a time of the Lord, such a time of God.
And let us hope and pray that the Lord's Holy Spirit will be given to us more abundantly and that we, filled with His love, will be used more and more as vessels to convey His love to the world.
Prelude
Call to Worship Isaiah 32:15
Hymn JBC # 120
The Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Supper
Hymn JBC # 301
Offering
Scripture Acts 1:6～11
Prayer
Sermon “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 81
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude
Today we are having the last Sunday (the Lord’s Day) Worship service of the year 2024. We would like to give thanks to the Lord God for continuing to speak to us through His Word, for continuing to support us, and for continuing to guide us in this year 2024 too.
Starting in April of this year, I (we) are undertaking a bold (and c?) attempt to cover the entire Bible from the beginning of the Old Testament to the end of the New Testament in one year's worship message.
By covering the Bible from beginning to end, even in broad strokes, we can see that the Lord God has great thoughts and plans that are beyond our human thoughts and plans.
The heart of the Bible is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The Bible tells us that Christ became a man, was born into this world, and died on the cross for the atonement of our sins.
And with Jesus' resurrection on the third day, God's thoughts and plans, and above all, God's love, were clearly revealed to us.
Each of us has our own wishes, thoughts, and various ideas and make plans of our own.
But the Bible shows us that believing in Christ the Lord God of the cross and resurrection and walking in obedience to Christ’s guidance is the path we should choose.
This year (2024), our church is walking on the annual theme “Standing on the Word of the Lord”.
It will soon be a new year (2025) and it is our hope that we will continue to stand on the Word of the Lord and continue to be spiritually nourished by His Word in the new year too.
For the worship message schedule, we have reached up to the end of New Testament Gospels at last week’s Christmas worship service.
In the New Testament, there are four books known as the “Gospels” (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) that describe the time from the birth of Jesus Christ to his death on the cross and resurrection.
And after those four Gospels, “the Acts of the Apostles” follows, in which Jesus' disciples (also known as apostles) carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to various places after Jesus Christ's resurrection and ascension to heaven.
Today's Bible verse is from Acts Chapter 1.
In the verse immediately preceding the passage you just read from verse 6, in Acts 1:3, we read the following.
After his suffering, he (*Jesus) presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Jesus suffered (died on the cross) and then resurrected to show the apostles with numerous evidences that “He is alive”.
Jesus rose from the dead and appeared before the apostles with a resurrected body so that the apostles could actually see and even touch him.
Jesus' resurrection was not a dream or a hallucination, but an event that was clearly demonstrated to people’s eyes on earth by God.
Jesus' disciples were very surprised to meet the resurrected Jesus, and some of them doubted though, but they saw that their Lord had risen and received great power and hope again.
In today's passage, the apostles ask Jesus the following question.
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
The disciples, like the rest of other Israel's people, had always believed that their Savior would rebuild Israel and free them from the country’s oppression (the Roman Empire) that ruled over them.
But that hope of theirs was completely cut off, they thought, when Jesus was cruelly crucified and killed so they were in despair.
But then the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ appeared before them. They must have rejoiced to meet the resurrected Lord, and at the same time, rejoiced to know that their hope of “Israel's deliverance” was not yet over.
So they asked Jesus.
“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Jesus responded like this. (verse 7)
It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.
It means that the decisive time when their nation will be rebuilt and liberated is when God the Heavenly Father determines it by His divine authority (Not by man, it says.)
We, as believers, are required to follow the time God has set and wait for important day and timing.
We have many wishes and thoughts. Today is the last Sunday service of this year.
Looking back on this past year, each of you may have various feelings about whether what you had hoped for this year came true or not.
Some may say they are discouraged and disappointed that they did not get what they wished for.
But it is precisely in such times that we are taught, through the Word of Scripture, that we should know God's will, wait for His timing, and trust in His plan.
There is a divine plan that goes far beyond our thoughts and wishes. And God will fulfill that plan at the time He has ordained.
Therefore, let us resolve again today to seek God's will and walk according to it, believing that there is a time and a season that God the Father in heaven has appointed by His own authority.
The nation of Israel will be rebuilt, which means that, faith-wise, the faith of each of us today as believers will be rebuilt, and we will be given the joy of deliverance from sin.
It is written in today's passage that it is accompanied by one sign.
That's what it says in verse 8, and I'm going to read verse 8.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
What kind of power is given by the descent of the Holy Spirit?
Paul, who wrote the Letter to the Ephesians, prayed in that letter as follows
Ephesians 3:16～17
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
It says here that when the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, falls, our inner being is strengthened.
To be strengthened in our inner being means that Jesus Christ lives in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
And Christ's dwelling in us means that we become rooted in His love and become to stand firm in His love (built up by His love).
So the giving of the Holy Spirit to us could be measured by the conviction that Christ lives in my heart.
It is also the work of the Holy Spirit, that makes us convinced that Christ is in our hearts and how precious and loved are we by Christ.
And it is through our being filled with the love of Christ and facing others and this society with that love, that the Kingdom of God will be extended to this world.
The Lord, the God of the Bible, first chose the Israelites and showed them His work of salvation. Eventually, the Israelites came to believe that God's salvation was available only to them.
But when the Holy Spirit falls on the apostles, they are filled with the love of Christ, and they become His witnesses, not only in Jerusalem, but throughout all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth, as we are told in today's passage.
Beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem and Judea, the forgiveness of sins and the Lord's love, clearly demonstrated by His cross and resurrection, will be conveyed to all nations and regions and all peoples, even to the ends of the earth.
And the driving force for the gospel to be preached in such a way is not the force of arms that one nation usually use to dominate other nations or any power such forcefully holds them down.
The Bible tells us that it is the love of Jesus Christ given by the Holy Spirit.
When Christ's love truly fills us and we live and act on that love of Christ, we will truly be able to understand others and Christ’s love will spread through us.
And when there is understanding and compassion between one another based on the love of Christ, rather than through forceful methods of forcing the other to give in to one's demands, then anything new or changes that comes from it, and that event, will be truly powerful one.
In today's passage, Jesus ascends from the presence of his disciples into heaven with the promise, “In time I will return.”
Now in our eyes, Jesus is invisible, but He lives in us by His Holy Spirit, as He promised, and fills us with His love.
I believe that each of us and our churches have experienced various failures and setbacks this past year. On the other hand, I believe that there were also accomplishments and many joys and blessings.
Let us have the confidence given us by the Holy Spirit. The Lord's great plan will be fulfilled at the time and in the season that He has appointed. Let us believe that we are alive in such a time of the Lord, such a time of God.
And let us hope and pray that the Lord's Holy Spirit will be given to us more abundantly and that we, filled with His love, will be used more and more as vessels to convey His love to the world.
Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Sunday Worship Service December 22, 2024
Prelude
Call to Worship Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)
Lighting of the Advent Candle
Hymn JBC # 157
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 301
Offering
Special Hymn
Scripture Matthew 2:1~12
Prayer
Sermon “The First Christ Worship”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 167
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude
In the Christian church, December 25th is commemorated and celebrated as the date of birth of Jesus Christ.
In today’s passage that was just read out, it says “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod”.
Actually, the month and date of Jesus’ birth is not recorded anywhere in the Bible. Because of this, we do not know whether the 25th of December is Jesus’ actual birthday or not.
It seems that the reason that the Christian church came to celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December has its origins in the time of the early Christians. At that time in Rome, the Cult of Mithras worshipped the sun god Mithra, and held a festival celebrating the “Invincible Sun God” on the 25th of December.
The Christians believed that Jesus Christ himself was the “true Sun”, the only one who brings new life to man and the true God.
As more and more people in the Roman Empire came to believe in Christianity, the Cult of Mithras declined
In this way, the 25th of December was no longer a celebration of the god Mithras, but came to be when Christians commemorated the birth of Christ.
As such, although the date December 25th is not recorded in the Bible, that date represents the history behind many people choosing to believe in the One God of the Bible (rather than believing in idols made by man), and coming to worship the true God.
While there may be no accurate basis for the 25th of December being Christ’s birthday the Bible does clearly write about the time during which Jesus was born.
As I mentioned at the start of today’s message, the beginning of today’s passage says “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod”.
King Herod, known more commonly as Herod the Great, ruled as the King of Judea, as a vassal of the Roman Empire at the time. (It is said he reigned from 37BC to 4BC).
As written in the sections following today’s passage, he was disturbed by the news that a new king had been born that threatened his position as King, he had all the boys who were two years old or younger in Bethlehem and its vicinity killed, leaving none alive.
Because of this, it could be said that Herod was a ruthless person without mercy.
Yet, we should also know that it is possible that Herod’s upbringing and being in the position of King may be made him that way, and that anyone could become like him.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time that such a king was reigning over Judea (approximately 2000 years ago).
At that time the Magi (or traditionally “wise men”, as they have also come to be translated as), came to Jerusalem (the capital of Judea) from the east, and came to see King Herod.
In the New Interconfessional Bible (Japanese), the Magi are translated as “astrologers (scholars of astrology)”. Perhaps the reason for this is that they knew that a new King of the Jews (Messiah) had been born by looking at the movement of the stars.
They observed the movement of the stars (astronomical objects) and could interpret what they observed, making them the experts in astronomy of their time.
Their knowledge was relatively advanced for their time, so they must have been the leading experts (scholars or scientists) of their time.
They came from the east, all the way to Jerusalem. Precisely where in the “the east” they came from is not written, so we do not know.
There are theories that it may mean Babylon, where the Israelites had once been held captive during the Babylonian captivity, or from still further east. If that is the case, the journey they took would have been thousands of kilometers.
Since we do not know precisely we can only guess, however I think we can safely assume that the Magi arrived in Jerusalem after braving the dangers of a very long journey over the course of many days.
The gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus who was born at that time is someone who we need to meet, even if we have to take on so much risk, spend so much time, give so much (or everything) we own, He is the exalted One we should believe in.
Also, the Magi were not Jews, but were from a country to the East, and would have been seen by the Jews as gentiles.
It may be that these gentile Magi became familiar with the stories of the Bible from the Jews who were taken into captivity in Babylon.
The Magi believed the prophecy in the Bible that the true King of the Jews, the Messiah, would be born, and they would have been awaiting this event with great excitement.
The fact that King Herod heard the news of the birth of the Messiah, the King of the Jews, from the gentile Magi who were not Jewish, shows that the Messiah, Jesus, is not just the King of Israel, the land called Judea, and the Jewish people, but is the Savior of all of us, of all mankind.
Before I came to believe in Christ, I used to think “Christianity is a Western religion”, that it is not something for us Japanese people to believe in.
Certainly, it is true that historically the Christian church developed in the West (Rome and European countries), but Jesus Christ was born in Israel as a Jew, meaning that it is not necessarily true to think of Christianity as a Western religion.
I think that when I used to reject Christianity because I thought it was a Western religion, I now think that it was because I had a kind of bias or obstacle within me (it could also be called prejudice).
The truth transcends the borders, ethnic and racial differences of our human world.
Even though the truth of God transcends our differences in the human world, is it right that we often value partiality and take pride in our national and ethnic differences in the human world, particularly those of the nation we belong to, over that truth?
We are all God’s creation, and were each of us created by God to have different characteristics.
The Bible tells us that even though we were created by God to be each of us different, God wants us all to know Him as the One God who made each of us, to believe in the God that transcends the difference of nationality, region, race and ethnicity we find in our human world, and to live together.
Let us continue to open our hearts and minds to the truth spoken through the Bible and listen carefully to the words of the Bible.
And what is fortunate for us is that now, in order to seek the true God, the Savior, and meet with Him, we do not need to travel for hundreds or thousands of kilometers like the Magi in today’s passage.
To meet with God, we do not need to go to Jerusalem. This is because even now, God is with us here in this place. Can this be true?
This is true. The Bible says this.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 18 Verse 20, Jesus says:
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
It means that when we gather together in Jesus’ name, that is, believing that Christ is God, coming together in the faith, uniting in heart and mind, Jesus will be with us in that place.
When we the Christian church gather together not by human thoughts and desires, but are brought together by the grace and love of Jesus Christ, when we give glory back to Christ together, Jesus is with us in that place.
In other words, if we gather together with faith in Christ, no matter where that is, Jesus will be with us in that place. Isn’t that such a great blessing?
Let us all continue to walk in faith, sharing the grace that Jesus is with us where we gather in the name of Christ, hearing the Word of the Bible together and receiving the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God!
And, for those who do not yet have faith and have not yet made the decision, we hope from the bottom of our hearts that you will continue to come to church and experience meeting with the true God.
When the Magi went to Herod’s palace first, they found the King of the Jews (Jesus) was not there.
Jesus was born as the son of Joseph the carpenter and his mother Mary, as a boy in an ordinary Jewish family.
Herod said “Go and search carefully for the child” (verse 8), and the Magi set out in search of Him.
When they did so, the star they had seen from the East guided them, stopping above the place where the infant (Jesus) lay.
They were overjoyed, and entered the house.
Let’s read verse 11.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The Magi bowed down to the infant they found there, worshipped Him, and presented Him with the treasures they had brought
Gold is said to symbolize an offering to the One who is King, and frankincense (a perfume made from the sap of certain trees) symbolizes an offering to the One who is the High Priest connecting God and man.
And myrrh was a preservative used to prevent the bodies of the dead from decaying, so it could be said to symbolize Christ’s eventual death on the cross for the atonement of sins for all.
In this way, at that time, the Magi presented the treasures they had brought to One who is the true King, the One who is the High Priest connecting God and man, the One who gave His life for us, that is who they gave their treasures to.
It could also be said that at that time, they were the first to give their worship to Christ.
In what way do we worship Christ? Do we believe in Christ with our hearts, praise Him, and present our treasures to Him?
The one who is God was born as a man. That One is Jesus Christ. He did this to forgive us our sins and grant us salvation.
Let us believe in, rejoice and be thankful that Christ was born into our world for us this way.
Let us continue meeting together in Christ’s name, offering to Jesus the best of what we have, starting with our whole selves, continuing to offer our worship to the true Christ,
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” The gracious blessing from Jesus in these words will always remain true and will continue to be a reality for us.
Prelude
Call to Worship Isaiah 9:2 (NIV)
Lighting of the Advent Candle
Hymn JBC # 157
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 301
Offering
Special Hymn
Scripture Matthew 2:1~12
Prayer
Sermon “The First Christ Worship”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 167
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude
In the Christian church, December 25th is commemorated and celebrated as the date of birth of Jesus Christ.
In today’s passage that was just read out, it says “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod”.
Actually, the month and date of Jesus’ birth is not recorded anywhere in the Bible. Because of this, we do not know whether the 25th of December is Jesus’ actual birthday or not.
It seems that the reason that the Christian church came to celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December has its origins in the time of the early Christians. At that time in Rome, the Cult of Mithras worshipped the sun god Mithra, and held a festival celebrating the “Invincible Sun God” on the 25th of December.
The Christians believed that Jesus Christ himself was the “true Sun”, the only one who brings new life to man and the true God.
As more and more people in the Roman Empire came to believe in Christianity, the Cult of Mithras declined
In this way, the 25th of December was no longer a celebration of the god Mithras, but came to be when Christians commemorated the birth of Christ.
As such, although the date December 25th is not recorded in the Bible, that date represents the history behind many people choosing to believe in the One God of the Bible (rather than believing in idols made by man), and coming to worship the true God.
While there may be no accurate basis for the 25th of December being Christ’s birthday the Bible does clearly write about the time during which Jesus was born.
As I mentioned at the start of today’s message, the beginning of today’s passage says “Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod”.
King Herod, known more commonly as Herod the Great, ruled as the King of Judea, as a vassal of the Roman Empire at the time. (It is said he reigned from 37BC to 4BC).
As written in the sections following today’s passage, he was disturbed by the news that a new king had been born that threatened his position as King, he had all the boys who were two years old or younger in Bethlehem and its vicinity killed, leaving none alive.
Because of this, it could be said that Herod was a ruthless person without mercy.
Yet, we should also know that it is possible that Herod’s upbringing and being in the position of King may be made him that way, and that anyone could become like him.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time that such a king was reigning over Judea (approximately 2000 years ago).
At that time the Magi (or traditionally “wise men”, as they have also come to be translated as), came to Jerusalem (the capital of Judea) from the east, and came to see King Herod.
In the New Interconfessional Bible (Japanese), the Magi are translated as “astrologers (scholars of astrology)”. Perhaps the reason for this is that they knew that a new King of the Jews (Messiah) had been born by looking at the movement of the stars.
They observed the movement of the stars (astronomical objects) and could interpret what they observed, making them the experts in astronomy of their time.
Their knowledge was relatively advanced for their time, so they must have been the leading experts (scholars or scientists) of their time.
They came from the east, all the way to Jerusalem. Precisely where in the “the east” they came from is not written, so we do not know.
There are theories that it may mean Babylon, where the Israelites had once been held captive during the Babylonian captivity, or from still further east. If that is the case, the journey they took would have been thousands of kilometers.
Since we do not know precisely we can only guess, however I think we can safely assume that the Magi arrived in Jerusalem after braving the dangers of a very long journey over the course of many days.
The gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus who was born at that time is someone who we need to meet, even if we have to take on so much risk, spend so much time, give so much (or everything) we own, He is the exalted One we should believe in.
Also, the Magi were not Jews, but were from a country to the East, and would have been seen by the Jews as gentiles.
It may be that these gentile Magi became familiar with the stories of the Bible from the Jews who were taken into captivity in Babylon.
The Magi believed the prophecy in the Bible that the true King of the Jews, the Messiah, would be born, and they would have been awaiting this event with great excitement.
The fact that King Herod heard the news of the birth of the Messiah, the King of the Jews, from the gentile Magi who were not Jewish, shows that the Messiah, Jesus, is not just the King of Israel, the land called Judea, and the Jewish people, but is the Savior of all of us, of all mankind.
Before I came to believe in Christ, I used to think “Christianity is a Western religion”, that it is not something for us Japanese people to believe in.
Certainly, it is true that historically the Christian church developed in the West (Rome and European countries), but Jesus Christ was born in Israel as a Jew, meaning that it is not necessarily true to think of Christianity as a Western religion.
I think that when I used to reject Christianity because I thought it was a Western religion, I now think that it was because I had a kind of bias or obstacle within me (it could also be called prejudice).
The truth transcends the borders, ethnic and racial differences of our human world.
Even though the truth of God transcends our differences in the human world, is it right that we often value partiality and take pride in our national and ethnic differences in the human world, particularly those of the nation we belong to, over that truth?
We are all God’s creation, and were each of us created by God to have different characteristics.
The Bible tells us that even though we were created by God to be each of us different, God wants us all to know Him as the One God who made each of us, to believe in the God that transcends the difference of nationality, region, race and ethnicity we find in our human world, and to live together.
Let us continue to open our hearts and minds to the truth spoken through the Bible and listen carefully to the words of the Bible.
And what is fortunate for us is that now, in order to seek the true God, the Savior, and meet with Him, we do not need to travel for hundreds or thousands of kilometers like the Magi in today’s passage.
To meet with God, we do not need to go to Jerusalem. This is because even now, God is with us here in this place. Can this be true?
This is true. The Bible says this.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 18 Verse 20, Jesus says:
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
It means that when we gather together in Jesus’ name, that is, believing that Christ is God, coming together in the faith, uniting in heart and mind, Jesus will be with us in that place.
When we the Christian church gather together not by human thoughts and desires, but are brought together by the grace and love of Jesus Christ, when we give glory back to Christ together, Jesus is with us in that place.
In other words, if we gather together with faith in Christ, no matter where that is, Jesus will be with us in that place. Isn’t that such a great blessing?
Let us all continue to walk in faith, sharing the grace that Jesus is with us where we gather in the name of Christ, hearing the Word of the Bible together and receiving the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God!
And, for those who do not yet have faith and have not yet made the decision, we hope from the bottom of our hearts that you will continue to come to church and experience meeting with the true God.
When the Magi went to Herod’s palace first, they found the King of the Jews (Jesus) was not there.
Jesus was born as the son of Joseph the carpenter and his mother Mary, as a boy in an ordinary Jewish family.
Herod said “Go and search carefully for the child” (verse 8), and the Magi set out in search of Him.
When they did so, the star they had seen from the East guided them, stopping above the place where the infant (Jesus) lay.
They were overjoyed, and entered the house.
Let’s read verse 11.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The Magi bowed down to the infant they found there, worshipped Him, and presented Him with the treasures they had brought
Gold is said to symbolize an offering to the One who is King, and frankincense (a perfume made from the sap of certain trees) symbolizes an offering to the One who is the High Priest connecting God and man.
And myrrh was a preservative used to prevent the bodies of the dead from decaying, so it could be said to symbolize Christ’s eventual death on the cross for the atonement of sins for all.
In this way, at that time, the Magi presented the treasures they had brought to One who is the true King, the One who is the High Priest connecting God and man, the One who gave His life for us, that is who they gave their treasures to.
It could also be said that at that time, they were the first to give their worship to Christ.
In what way do we worship Christ? Do we believe in Christ with our hearts, praise Him, and present our treasures to Him?
The one who is God was born as a man. That One is Jesus Christ. He did this to forgive us our sins and grant us salvation.
Let us believe in, rejoice and be thankful that Christ was born into our world for us this way.
Let us continue meeting together in Christ’s name, offering to Jesus the best of what we have, starting with our whole selves, continuing to offer our worship to the true Christ,
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” The gracious blessing from Jesus in these words will always remain true and will continue to be a reality for us.
Monday, December 2, 2024
Sunday Worship Service December 15, 2024
Prelude
Call to Worship Psalm 32:11
Lighting of the Advent Candle (Joy)
Hymn JBC # 173 O little town of Bethlehem
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 301 Amazing grace ! how sweet the sound
Offering
Scripture John 3:22～30
Prayer
Sermon “He must become greater; I become less”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 160 It came upon the midnight clear
Doxology JBC #679
Benediction
Postlude
Today is the third Sunday of Advent before Christmas.
At the beginning of the service, the third Advent candle was lit. The fire of the third candle represents “joy”.
The event of Christmas, that Jesus Christ was born into the world as a human being, is our great joy. The source of our joy is Jesus Christ.
Where Christ is, there is joy. Where Christ is, and where He is recognized and praised by people, there is joy.
Today in our church, through our worship, we want to acknowledge Christ as the Lord God, praise Him, and share the joy of His presence with us.
Today's Bible passage is from the Gospel of John 3:22-30.
Today's passage begins with the following sentence
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.
Jesus went with his disciples to the countryside of Judea, stayed there and baptized people.
Last week, a sister was baptized in our church. Baptism is a ceremony in which a person confesses and declares that he or she believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and that he or she will walk as a Christian.
We, the Christian church, are commanded by Jesus to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to people and to baptize those who believe.
In Matthew 28:19-20, it says
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Thus, it is a command that the Church, as a community of Christians, has received from Jesus to preach His teachings to the world and baptize those who believe in Him. (It is called the “Great Commission.”)
In today's passage, Jesus by himself baptizes people. Jesus took His disciples and went out into the various regions of Judea to preach about the Kingdom of God.
There Jesus met various people, preached the Kingdom of God to them, and baptized those who believed as a sign of their faith.
Having seeing Jesus himself baptizing people, I think that his disciples would later remember Jesus’baptism when they themselves came to baptize people.
I believe that Jesus was preparing for the time when He would eventually be taken up to heaven and would no longer be with His disciples on earth.
I imagine that when Jesus was with his disciples, he was teaching them by actually showing them “how to preach the kingdom of God” and “how to baptize”.
I am now serving the church as a pastor. And my current work as a pastor is based on what I learned from my own pastors (pastors of churches I belonged to in the past).
I believe that the way Jesus himself preached and baptized was passed on to his disciples, and that what Jesus' disciples learned in this way has been passed on to the Christian churches till today over the generation.
As believers living in the present time, I would like us to continue to study the content of evangelism and faith inherited from the past, while keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the reality of the present time.
Verse 23 says the following.
23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized.
This John was an evangelist known as John the Baptist. John the Baptist was one of the religious leaders of Jesus' time in the New Testament who also baptized Jesus.
John the Baptist was probably a very influential and popular leader in his day.
However, today's passage describes a clear difference between Jesus' baptism and the baptism of John the Baptist.
That is, Jesus was baptizing by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, on His own authority as the Son of God, while John the Baptist was baptizing merely by water.
In John 1:31 and following, John the Baptist says, “I baptize with water. But He (Christ) who sent me to baptize with water baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”
John the Baptist's baptism was a baptism by human hands (whose real authority rests with God and not with man).
We, the Christian church, as God's agents, so to speak, still baptize with water. But it is Jesus Christ who truly baptizes by the Holy Spirit.
We want to keep in mind that when we believe in God and are led to be baptized, it is the God of Jesus Christ who is truly baptizing them with the Holy Spirit, it is not through the authorities of churches or pastors.
Let's look at verse 26 of today's passage.
26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
John's disciples were apparently moved by jealousy when they saw so many people being drawn to the new leader, Jesus.
John's disciples must have seen Jesus as a rival to their teacher, and they must have thought of Jesus' followers as competing with them.
John's disciples must have been frustrated by that“our teacher was more popular, and more people would be following our group, but now many have gone to the new leader, Jesus”.
This kind of rivalry or vanity is something we too all have in our hearts. John’s disciples’ figure would be the figures of ourselves too.
But John's response to his disciples was as follows.
A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.
We receive various good things from God in heaven. We receive our abilities, talents, and all other good things from God in heaven.
John the Baptist was convinced that it was God the Father who gave him the gift of evangelism or the mission itself.
John the Baptist found joy in simply following faithfully the mission that God the Father had given him, using the gifts he had been given.
Because they are God-given gifts, there is no need at all(nor should there be) to compare them with the gifts given to others or to compete for superiority.
We want to be those who can appreciate and rejoice in what God has given to each of us according to His plan.
We also want to treasure the gifts we have received and use them to serve in the missionary work of the Kingdom of God.
Furthermore, John compares himself to the role of a bridesmaid (“the friend of the bridegroom”) who brings together the bride and the bridegroom (v. 29). Christ is the bridegroom, and those who believe in and follow Him are likened to His bride.
John the Baptist was shown that his mission was to prepare the way for many people to believe in and follow Christ.
John was convinced that his mission was to lead people to believe in Jesus Christ, not to make them follow him (John).
Therefore, the fact that many people (brides) were going to Jesus Christ (the Bridegroom) and receiving His teachings was a joy that John could not be more pleased with.
John says, “I am filled with joy” (v. 29). He says that he is filled with joy at the coming of Christ and at the sound of His voice.
We, too, are filled with the greatest joy when we hear the voice of Jesus Christ, when we hear His voice as the Word of life that gives us life and leads us.
Let us always listen to the Word of God, the Word of Christ, which fills us with joy, nourishes us, and gives us strength to live our lives.
Let us read the last verse of today's passage, verse 30.
30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
That One” is, of course, Jesus Christ. The greatest joy for us is to see Jesus Christ flourish, His name be praised, and He believed.
When Christ is glorified in us, when He is magnified in us, we ourselves become small and weak.
We are self-centered, so the thought of “I, I, I (me)” inevitably comes first. Even if it is not so obvious, our honest feeling is “I must be first”.
Therefore, when our needs are not met, when people do not do what we want, we are dissatisfied.
When we don't get our way, we would complain even to God.
But when Christ becomes the greatest in ourselves, His thoughts, God's will, become the most important thing.
If Christ grows and flourishes in us, His thoughts become far more important and precious than our own.
Our greatest concerns will be “What would Jesus think of this, and how would Jesus want me to live”.
Let us have faith that Christ is the one who flourishes most in each of us and in our church.
Christmas is coming again this year when we remember that the One who should be most glorious among us, the One who should be most praiseworthy, the Lord of glory, was born into this world as a little boy.
Let us welcome this year, too, with thanksgiving, the Christmas when we rejoice in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world.
And Let us pray and seek that Christ may always be the most praised and most glorified among us.
Prelude
Call to Worship Psalm 32:11
Lighting of the Advent Candle (Joy)
Hymn JBC # 173 O little town of Bethlehem
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 301 Amazing grace ! how sweet the sound
Offering
Scripture John 3:22～30
Prayer
Sermon “He must become greater; I become less”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 160 It came upon the midnight clear
Doxology JBC #679
Benediction
Postlude
Today is the third Sunday of Advent before Christmas.
At the beginning of the service, the third Advent candle was lit. The fire of the third candle represents “joy”.
The event of Christmas, that Jesus Christ was born into the world as a human being, is our great joy. The source of our joy is Jesus Christ.
Where Christ is, there is joy. Where Christ is, and where He is recognized and praised by people, there is joy.
Today in our church, through our worship, we want to acknowledge Christ as the Lord God, praise Him, and share the joy of His presence with us.
Today's Bible passage is from the Gospel of John 3:22-30.
Today's passage begins with the following sentence
22 After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.
Jesus went with his disciples to the countryside of Judea, stayed there and baptized people.
Last week, a sister was baptized in our church. Baptism is a ceremony in which a person confesses and declares that he or she believes in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and that he or she will walk as a Christian.
We, the Christian church, are commanded by Jesus to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to people and to baptize those who believe.
In Matthew 28:19-20, it says
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Thus, it is a command that the Church, as a community of Christians, has received from Jesus to preach His teachings to the world and baptize those who believe in Him. (It is called the “Great Commission.”)
In today's passage, Jesus by himself baptizes people. Jesus took His disciples and went out into the various regions of Judea to preach about the Kingdom of God.
There Jesus met various people, preached the Kingdom of God to them, and baptized those who believed as a sign of their faith.
Having seeing Jesus himself baptizing people, I think that his disciples would later remember Jesus’baptism when they themselves came to baptize people.
I believe that Jesus was preparing for the time when He would eventually be taken up to heaven and would no longer be with His disciples on earth.
I imagine that when Jesus was with his disciples, he was teaching them by actually showing them “how to preach the kingdom of God” and “how to baptize”.
I am now serving the church as a pastor. And my current work as a pastor is based on what I learned from my own pastors (pastors of churches I belonged to in the past).
I believe that the way Jesus himself preached and baptized was passed on to his disciples, and that what Jesus' disciples learned in this way has been passed on to the Christian churches till today over the generation.
As believers living in the present time, I would like us to continue to study the content of evangelism and faith inherited from the past, while keeping our eyes firmly fixed on the reality of the present time.
Verse 23 says the following.
23 Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized.
This John was an evangelist known as John the Baptist. John the Baptist was one of the religious leaders of Jesus' time in the New Testament who also baptized Jesus.
John the Baptist was probably a very influential and popular leader in his day.
However, today's passage describes a clear difference between Jesus' baptism and the baptism of John the Baptist.
That is, Jesus was baptizing by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, on His own authority as the Son of God, while John the Baptist was baptizing merely by water.
In John 1:31 and following, John the Baptist says, “I baptize with water. But He (Christ) who sent me to baptize with water baptizes with the Holy Spirit.”
John the Baptist's baptism was a baptism by human hands (whose real authority rests with God and not with man).
We, the Christian church, as God's agents, so to speak, still baptize with water. But it is Jesus Christ who truly baptizes by the Holy Spirit.
We want to keep in mind that when we believe in God and are led to be baptized, it is the God of Jesus Christ who is truly baptizing them with the Holy Spirit, it is not through the authorities of churches or pastors.
Let's look at verse 26 of today's passage.
26 They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”
John's disciples were apparently moved by jealousy when they saw so many people being drawn to the new leader, Jesus.
John's disciples must have seen Jesus as a rival to their teacher, and they must have thought of Jesus' followers as competing with them.
John's disciples must have been frustrated by that“our teacher was more popular, and more people would be following our group, but now many have gone to the new leader, Jesus”.
This kind of rivalry or vanity is something we too all have in our hearts. John’s disciples’ figure would be the figures of ourselves too.
But John's response to his disciples was as follows.
A person can receive only what is given them from heaven.
We receive various good things from God in heaven. We receive our abilities, talents, and all other good things from God in heaven.
John the Baptist was convinced that it was God the Father who gave him the gift of evangelism or the mission itself.
John the Baptist found joy in simply following faithfully the mission that God the Father had given him, using the gifts he had been given.
Because they are God-given gifts, there is no need at all(nor should there be) to compare them with the gifts given to others or to compete for superiority.
We want to be those who can appreciate and rejoice in what God has given to each of us according to His plan.
We also want to treasure the gifts we have received and use them to serve in the missionary work of the Kingdom of God.
Furthermore, John compares himself to the role of a bridesmaid (“the friend of the bridegroom”) who brings together the bride and the bridegroom (v. 29). Christ is the bridegroom, and those who believe in and follow Him are likened to His bride.
John the Baptist was shown that his mission was to prepare the way for many people to believe in and follow Christ.
John was convinced that his mission was to lead people to believe in Jesus Christ, not to make them follow him (John).
Therefore, the fact that many people (brides) were going to Jesus Christ (the Bridegroom) and receiving His teachings was a joy that John could not be more pleased with.
John says, “I am filled with joy” (v. 29). He says that he is filled with joy at the coming of Christ and at the sound of His voice.
We, too, are filled with the greatest joy when we hear the voice of Jesus Christ, when we hear His voice as the Word of life that gives us life and leads us.
Let us always listen to the Word of God, the Word of Christ, which fills us with joy, nourishes us, and gives us strength to live our lives.
Let us read the last verse of today's passage, verse 30.
30 He must become greater; I must become less.”
That One” is, of course, Jesus Christ. The greatest joy for us is to see Jesus Christ flourish, His name be praised, and He believed.
When Christ is glorified in us, when He is magnified in us, we ourselves become small and weak.
We are self-centered, so the thought of “I, I, I (me)” inevitably comes first. Even if it is not so obvious, our honest feeling is “I must be first”.
Therefore, when our needs are not met, when people do not do what we want, we are dissatisfied.
When we don't get our way, we would complain even to God.
But when Christ becomes the greatest in ourselves, His thoughts, God's will, become the most important thing.
If Christ grows and flourishes in us, His thoughts become far more important and precious than our own.
Our greatest concerns will be “What would Jesus think of this, and how would Jesus want me to live”.
Let us have faith that Christ is the one who flourishes most in each of us and in our church.
Christmas is coming again this year when we remember that the One who should be most glorious among us, the One who should be most praiseworthy, the Lord of glory, was born into this world as a little boy.
Let us welcome this year, too, with thanksgiving, the Christmas when we rejoice in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ into the world.
And Let us pray and seek that Christ may always be the most praised and most glorified among us.
Saturday, November 30, 2024
Sunday Worship Service December 8, 2024
Prelude
Call to Worship Romans 12:16
Lighting of the Advent Candle (Peace)
Hymn JBC # 149 Veni, veni Emmanuel
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 301 Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
Confession of Faith
Offering
Scripture Zechariah 6:9～15
Prayer
Sermon [There will be harmony between the two]
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 330 Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude
Today is the 2nd Sunday of the Advent period (about 4 weeks before Christmas) before Christmas to commemorate, give thanks and to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The second Advent candle was lit at the beginning of the worship service.
The 2nd candle of Advent is filled with the meaning and wish for “Peace”. Today, let us together listen to God’s words of peace from a passage in the [book of Zechariah] of the Old Testament.
It is written in verse 9 in the beginning of today’s passage [The word of the Lord came to me] This word “me” refers to the prophet named Zechariah.
Zechariah was a prophet of the era where the Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem at the end of the Babylonian Captivity (an event where countless Israelites were taken to Babylon when the nation was overthrown by the Babylonian Empire)
The Babylonian Captivity lasted for about 70 years. Due to the Babylonian Empire that overthrew Israel being overthrown by the Persian Empire, the Israelites that were exiled to Babylon were at length allowed to return to their country.
The beginning of the [the book of Ezra] is written as follows.
Ezra 1:1～4
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.
4 And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”
The bible says that the Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem from Babylon for God the Lord has moved the heart of Cyrus the king of Persia.
It says that the Israelites could return to their own country, so then were also allowed to rebuild the temple that was once destructed by Babylon because God has moved the heart of Cyrus the king of Persia.
Meaning, the end of the Babylonian Captivity was God’s grace and was not an event that the Israelites could accomplish with their own strength.
When we get across such a message of the bible, we come to know that the good things that we receive even to this day are all gifts and blessings from God.
When we think we get something good by our own effort and strength, and think that we have accomplished it, we are led to a humbling experience that “everything is given to us as God’s grace”, by His message through the bible.
Let us always continue to be grateful keeping in mind that the source of all blessings is the Lord God.
The reconstruction of the temple that was destroyed by Babylon has begun in Jerusalem. However, the temple reconstruction is obstructed by other inhabitants that were against its reconstruction by the Israelites (that matter is written in the book of Ezra chap. 4)
Hence, the temple reconstruction was suspended. But, written as follows in the beginning of the [book of Ezra] chap. 5, the temple reconstruction is resumed.
Ezra 5:1～2
1 Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
By conveying the words of God to the people by Haggai and Zechariah who were prophets, the people rose and could once again start the temple reconstruction.
The words of God encourage us human beings, it gives us courage, hope and strength when one time we had setback or are about to begin something new from now on.
Even as this, we listen to and share God’s Word together through the weekly worship service because we are living beings that receive spiritual strength and spiritual food through worship.
It is through the Word of God that we receive true life and can live. By firstly listening and sharing the Word of God in the worship service, we learn that it is God’s Word that strengthens us and makes live, let the Word of God be as our strength.
What is the reason that we are to listen to this passage of the book of Zechariah (chap. 6:9～15) today, the 2nd Sunday of Advent?
It’s because the words of today’s passage, though it is an incident that happened hundreds of years (about 600 years ago) before Jesus Christ was born, the event of today’s passage is one that predicts the coming of the yet to be born Jesus Christ.
Verse 11 to 12 says as follows
11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak. 12 Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.
Through the words of Zechariah, the command [set a crown on the head (make this man king) of this man (refers to Joshua the high priest)] is conveyed here.
And it is written that that man who is to be king is [the Branch] It says that that man is a small Branch, king that is like a freshly growing young branch.
He is not a man of strong image as of a large tree, but his figure is one who resembles a small young branch. A man like sprout that has just sprouted from the ground. That is exactly, our Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that Jesus Christ was born to Mary and Joseph as a Son of man (an infant) on Christmas.
A newly born human baby cannot live not even a single day without a guardian’s protection and care, a weak existence indeed.
It is unbelievable that the One who is God was born to this world in such a figure. But it was the Lord God’s plan.
Let us welcome as our King, the Lord who is coming to us in a figure as a little infant, just like a newly growing sprout, and let us offer Him the crown.
We hold the sin of being self-centered. In other words, we are the king of our self.
With Jesus Christ that the bible conveys as our King, let us cast off our own crown and return the crown of that Worthy King, to Christ the King.
And today’s passage says that (v.12), that King will [build the temple] The reality is, this temple refers to the temple of Jerusalem that was destructed by the Babylonian Empire.
However, in terms of faith, here, the temple that that King builds refers to each one of us believers. It’s because Christ our King is the One who builds us as His temple.
Each one of us is God’s temple. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 of the New Testament is written as follows.
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
Christ our King, will again build each one of us believers, and our church as well as the Lord’s temple.
I believe for some reasons, that there are times when we ourselves seem like to be broken, we no longer believe in the things (or our own self) that we believed until then, and completely lose self-confidence.
There must be even a time when having failed on something, we feel despair that we can only think, “I can no longer recover, and hopeless for my life ahead”.
To my idea, there is also a time when we don’t know where to go. However, our Lord came to this world as the One who rebuilds us as His temple.
Therefore, though we fail many times or fall, let us trust God’s Word of the bible that Christ the Lord God as our King will rebuild us.
And let us never give up, and live having hope from God’s Word of the bible.
Let me read verse 13.
13 It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony (*peace) between the two.’
Christ builds the temple which is us the believers, and He reigns over us as our King.
It is written that [beside that throne is a (one person) high priest], and to my understanding this refers to Christ as King, and this fulfills His work as the High Priest connecting God and man.
Christ as the King as well as the High Priest leads and rules over us.
And when we are ruled by Christ, “peace” (translated “harmony” in English) arises between us people that time.
When Christ rules over us and we worship Him as our True King, listen to, obey His Word and live, true Peace (Shalom in Hebrew) arises between us humans.
In that sense, ahead of Christmas which commemorates the birth of Christ, His coming who is the True King of Peace, let us now once again give back all the glory to Christ the King.
Let us offer a heartfelt thanksgiving to the Lord remembering the Lord God giving us Himself and the One who brings us Peace even to this day.
Prelude
Call to Worship Romans 12:16
Lighting of the Advent Candle (Peace)
Hymn JBC # 149 Veni, veni Emmanuel
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # 301 Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
Confession of Faith
Offering
Scripture Zechariah 6:9～15
Prayer
Sermon [There will be harmony between the two]
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 330 Far away in the depths of my spirit tonight
Doxology JBC # 679
Benediction
Postlude
Today is the 2nd Sunday of the Advent period (about 4 weeks before Christmas) before Christmas to commemorate, give thanks and to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
The second Advent candle was lit at the beginning of the worship service.
The 2nd candle of Advent is filled with the meaning and wish for “Peace”. Today, let us together listen to God’s words of peace from a passage in the [book of Zechariah] of the Old Testament.
It is written in verse 9 in the beginning of today’s passage [The word of the Lord came to me] This word “me” refers to the prophet named Zechariah.
Zechariah was a prophet of the era where the Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem at the end of the Babylonian Captivity (an event where countless Israelites were taken to Babylon when the nation was overthrown by the Babylonian Empire)
The Babylonian Captivity lasted for about 70 years. Due to the Babylonian Empire that overthrew Israel being overthrown by the Persian Empire, the Israelites that were exiled to Babylon were at length allowed to return to their country.
The beginning of the [the book of Ezra] is written as follows.
Ezra 1:1～4
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and also to put it in writing:
2 “This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
“‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah.
3 Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.
4 And in any locality where survivors may now be living, the people are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem.’”
The bible says that the Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem from Babylon for God the Lord has moved the heart of Cyrus the king of Persia.
It says that the Israelites could return to their own country, so then were also allowed to rebuild the temple that was once destructed by Babylon because God has moved the heart of Cyrus the king of Persia.
Meaning, the end of the Babylonian Captivity was God’s grace and was not an event that the Israelites could accomplish with their own strength.
When we get across such a message of the bible, we come to know that the good things that we receive even to this day are all gifts and blessings from God.
When we think we get something good by our own effort and strength, and think that we have accomplished it, we are led to a humbling experience that “everything is given to us as God’s grace”, by His message through the bible.
Let us always continue to be grateful keeping in mind that the source of all blessings is the Lord God.
The reconstruction of the temple that was destroyed by Babylon has begun in Jerusalem. However, the temple reconstruction is obstructed by other inhabitants that were against its reconstruction by the Israelites (that matter is written in the book of Ezra chap. 4)
Hence, the temple reconstruction was suspended. But, written as follows in the beginning of the [book of Ezra] chap. 5, the temple reconstruction is resumed.
Ezra 5:1～2
1 Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. 2 Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
By conveying the words of God to the people by Haggai and Zechariah who were prophets, the people rose and could once again start the temple reconstruction.
The words of God encourage us human beings, it gives us courage, hope and strength when one time we had setback or are about to begin something new from now on.
Even as this, we listen to and share God’s Word together through the weekly worship service because we are living beings that receive spiritual strength and spiritual food through worship.
It is through the Word of God that we receive true life and can live. By firstly listening and sharing the Word of God in the worship service, we learn that it is God’s Word that strengthens us and makes live, let the Word of God be as our strength.
What is the reason that we are to listen to this passage of the book of Zechariah (chap. 6:9～15) today, the 2nd Sunday of Advent?
It’s because the words of today’s passage, though it is an incident that happened hundreds of years (about 600 years ago) before Jesus Christ was born, the event of today’s passage is one that predicts the coming of the yet to be born Jesus Christ.
Verse 11 to 12 says as follows
11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jozadak. 12 Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.
Through the words of Zechariah, the command [set a crown on the head (make this man king) of this man (refers to Joshua the high priest)] is conveyed here.
And it is written that that man who is to be king is [the Branch] It says that that man is a small Branch, king that is like a freshly growing young branch.
He is not a man of strong image as of a large tree, but his figure is one who resembles a small young branch. A man like sprout that has just sprouted from the ground. That is exactly, our Lord Jesus Christ.
We know that Jesus Christ was born to Mary and Joseph as a Son of man (an infant) on Christmas.
A newly born human baby cannot live not even a single day without a guardian’s protection and care, a weak existence indeed.
It is unbelievable that the One who is God was born to this world in such a figure. But it was the Lord God’s plan.
Let us welcome as our King, the Lord who is coming to us in a figure as a little infant, just like a newly growing sprout, and let us offer Him the crown.
We hold the sin of being self-centered. In other words, we are the king of our self.
With Jesus Christ that the bible conveys as our King, let us cast off our own crown and return the crown of that Worthy King, to Christ the King.
And today’s passage says that (v.12), that King will [build the temple] The reality is, this temple refers to the temple of Jerusalem that was destructed by the Babylonian Empire.
However, in terms of faith, here, the temple that that King builds refers to each one of us believers. It’s because Christ our King is the One who builds us as His temple.
Each one of us is God’s temple. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 of the New Testament is written as follows.
16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
Christ our King, will again build each one of us believers, and our church as well as the Lord’s temple.
I believe for some reasons, that there are times when we ourselves seem like to be broken, we no longer believe in the things (or our own self) that we believed until then, and completely lose self-confidence.
There must be even a time when having failed on something, we feel despair that we can only think, “I can no longer recover, and hopeless for my life ahead”.
To my idea, there is also a time when we don’t know where to go. However, our Lord came to this world as the One who rebuilds us as His temple.
Therefore, though we fail many times or fall, let us trust God’s Word of the bible that Christ the Lord God as our King will rebuild us.
And let us never give up, and live having hope from God’s Word of the bible.
Let me read verse 13.
13 It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony (*peace) between the two.’
Christ builds the temple which is us the believers, and He reigns over us as our King.
It is written that [beside that throne is a (one person) high priest], and to my understanding this refers to Christ as King, and this fulfills His work as the High Priest connecting God and man.
Christ as the King as well as the High Priest leads and rules over us.
And when we are ruled by Christ, “peace” (translated “harmony” in English) arises between us people that time.
When Christ rules over us and we worship Him as our True King, listen to, obey His Word and live, true Peace (Shalom in Hebrew) arises between us humans.
In that sense, ahead of Christmas which commemorates the birth of Christ, His coming who is the True King of Peace, let us now once again give back all the glory to Christ the King.
Let us offer a heartfelt thanksgiving to the Lord remembering the Lord God giving us Himself and the One who brings us Peace even to this day.
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